As a buyer watching the real estate market, you are undoubtedly aware that there are more "short sale" properties on the market, at least in many areas. A short sale is a home where the market value of the property is LESS than the loan amount owed to one or more lenders. Note that there may be state or regional differences in the requirements and paperwork - ask your agent.

Don't be scared off by these properties as they may turn out to be a great deal for you. But you need to know a few things:

A seller must disclose if the home either IS a short sale or likely will be due to the market value.

A short sale MUST be approved by the lender. Even though a seller might accept your offer, it will be subject to approval by the lender

Lender will (likely) send out an appraiser to evaluate the property in light of recent sales

Lender must receive hardship letter and other required documents from the seller in order to approve a short sale

Lender will likely have a checklist of requirements and paperwork required for the short sale process

Lender will likely request that the sale be "as is" and due to hardship will probably not approve any credit for repairs

Be prepared for a short sale to take more time (total time may be 60 days +/-)

If you are making an offer:

Make sure you make the offer contingent on the short sale being approved by the lender and set a time frame for approval

An addendum form is advised to outline the short sale contingency terms and conditions (this is a optional state form here, but there may be other requirements elsewhere in

California

and in other states)

A letter to the seller is also advised requesting written confirmation that the lender has received the hardship letter and other documents as part of the short sale application

There is a good chance there will be more than 1 offer

It is still prudent to conduct a home inspection even though the lender will probably require an "as is" sale

It is possible the seller will not be able to do any Section 1 repairs resulting from the Wood Destroying Pest Inspection (e.g., termites) due to hardship of funds

Be sure to discuss issues and questions with your agent before proceeding, preferably someone who has some experience with short sales.

To calculate your property tax we have to have the taxable value of your home. Using the assumption of $234,000 and the home is located in tax district #570

1. Figure the “assessed value” by multiplying the taxable value by the “assessment ratio” of 35% (this ratio is set by law)……In this example:

$234,000 x .35= $81,900

2. Locate the “property tax rate” for tax district #570 (I did this for you). In the 2004-2005 column tax district #570 has a property tax rate listed at 2.9471 or $2.9471 for each $100 of assessed value.

3. Finally, just multiply the “assessed value” by the “property tax rate”.